Standards

“No more of an idiot than anyone else, for fuck’s sake—but always just as much of a one!”

—French Army chant

Ever since Napoleon III sought to impose pants colored rose madder (garance) on the Chasseurs alpins, they’ve refused even to say the word red (rouge) and speak instead of bleu-cerise (cherry blue), the color of blood on their blue uniforms—except when talking of the shade of a beloved woman’s lips, the red in the Legion of Honour’s fourragère (dubbed la rouge), or the red in the French tricolor.

Neither will they say jaune (yellow), but rather jonquille (daffodil).

One must have some standards, after all!

*Chant of the 25th battalion of the Chasseurs alpins: « Pas plus con qu’un autre nom de nom, Mais toujours autant ! »